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The RailRiders took a literal walk in the rain on Thursday night, all the way to a lead they'll start off with tonight.

Walter Ibarra's fourth-inning single helped take advantage of Syracuse starter Ryan Tatusko's wildness, and the RailRiders claimed a 2-1 lead against the Chiefs at NBT Bank Stadium when heavy rains suspended play after 4½ innings.

The game will be picked up with Syracuse at the plate to start the bottom of the fourth inning at 5 p.m. tonight. The regularly scheduled game, the final game of a five-game set, will start soon after the completion of the suspended game.

That game is now scheduled for just seven innings.

Despite grabbing the lead, the abbreviated start Thursday night had its fair share of frustration for the RailRiders. Tatusko walked a whopping eight hitters in four innings - including the first three batters of the game - and only 33 of his 78 pitches were strikes. But on the scoreboard, the RailRiders didn't get a maximum return from his charity.

In fact, they got just one run in the first inning despite having the bases loaded and nobody out. Corey Patterson crossed the plate when Randy Ruiz hit into a rally-killing 5-4-3 double play.

Tatusko walked at least one batter in each inning, and three each in the first and fourth. But Syracuse actually played even on the scoreboard heading into the fourth.

Right-hander Caleb Cotham ran into trouble in the second, when Corey Brown ripped a double over Thomas Neal's head in right field to lead off the inning. Red-hot former pitcher Micah Owings, who homered in each game of Wednesday night's doubleheader, punched a double to right that brought Brown around to tie the game.

Cotham settled down, though, allowing one run on three hits in his three innings, striking out two. The RailRiders got him the lead back in the fourth, before the rain became a factor.

Tatusko continued his night-long fight with the strike zone, walking Brent Lillibridge and Casey Stevenson to start the fourth. After he rebounded by striking out Cody Grice, Walter Ibarra finally burned Tatusko with a hit.

He lined a single in front of right fielder Chris Rahl that brought Lillibridge all the way around from second for a 2-1 lead.

But with two out, and after Tatusko loaded the bases with a walk to J.R. Murphy, Dan Johnson grounded to second to end that inning. The tarp came out just moments later, and it stayed there for the rest of the evening.

Contact the writer: sports@timesshamrock.com @sportsTT on Twitter

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